LOOK: Former Boiler Dakota Mathias Swings By Purdue Basketball Practice
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The doors to Mackey Arena and Cardinal Court are always open to those who played at Purdue. We've seen multiple former players welcomed back this week as coach Matt Painter and the Boilermakers go through summer practices, preparing for the 2025-26 college basketball season.
Former Purdue standout Dakota Mathias made his way back to West Lafayette on Thursday, heading over to Cardinal Court for a practice. The Purdue men's basketball social media team shared an image of the "Midwestern Cowboy" having a chat with Painter.
Mathias is one of two former players to return to Purdue this week. Two-time National Player of the Year Zach Edey also stopped by Cardinal Court this week after undergoing ankle surgery this summer.
🤠 The MWC in the house today. pic.twitter.com/CFZj9EEF07
— Purdue Men's Basketball (@BoilerBall) July 16, 2025
Mathias is coming off an impressive year in the NBA G-League in 2024-25. The former Boilermaker played in 31 games for the Indiana Mad Ants (Indiana Pacers affiliate), making 25 starts. He averaged 17.3 points, 4.9 rebounds, 3.5 assists, and 1.3 steals per game. He also shot 43.5% from the floor and 36.5% from three-point range.
Indiana finished the season with a 20-14 record and reached the semifinal round of the G-League playoffs.
Although former players often stop in throughout the course of the year, it's been great to see former Boilermakers welcomed back to Cardinal Court with open arms this week. Mathias and Edey are also getting an early look at the 2025-26 Purdue team, which is expected to compete for a national title.
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Dustin Schutte is the publisher of Purdue Boilermakers on SI and has spent more than a decade working in sports journalism. His career began in 2013, when he covered Big Ten football. He remained in that role for eight years before working at On SI to cover the Boilermakers. Dustin graduated from Manchester University in Indiana in 2010, where he played for the men's tennis team.
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